Why Nokia’s budget smartphone strategy looks like a winner

It’s been a rough past few years for Nokia but the company seems to be ahead of the curve when it comes to selling ultra-cheap smartphones in emerging markets. Paul Thurrott, writing at WindowsITPro, makes a compelling case that Nokia has made a lot of significant headway in getting its Lumia phones into consumers’ hands in emerging markets by pricing them aggressively for as little as $99 off-contract. Thurrott notes that these cheaper Lumias have helped Nokia double its year-over-year Lumia sales to the 7.4 million it reported last quarter. Of course, Thurrott also notes that Nokia has continued to struggle in the United States and other big markets and that the company will need to make more progress in the high-end market if it wants to reestablish itself as an industry leader. All the same, the company is probably happier to be at least succeeding in the budget market than it would be not succeeding in any market at all.